St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-04-01
The Place Only Three Years Old, But 1t
is Already Young
Giant.
Real Estate observation-disclosures of In
vestors on the Ground and
More on the Way.
Numerous Reasons why Washburn is
Destined to be City of
Great Size.
Special TO the Globe.

together with its natural resources, is all
that is required to make it the foremost
lake city of the Northwest. Surrounded
as il is by boundless ineXhaustible forests
of the finest pine and its close proximity to
the rich iron ores of the west range, it can
not be kept back. 1t must forge ahead
Commerce demands it
THE CITY AND ITS GROWTH
In July. 1888, the original townsite was
plated by the Bay Land & Improvement
company. The sale of lots commenced
forthwith, and many fine and substantial
buildings were erected. most prominent
among which were the Opera block. costing
over IS, 600; the Congregational church,
$1,000. and the Sheridan block, 81, 600.
During the following year a handsome
structure for school building was built at
a cost of $4,000. an enormous coal dock was
added to the shipping facilities already es-
tablished by the Chicago, st. Paul, Mime
apoliS Il Omaha railway. and million
buShel elevator was also constructed at Il
cost of $3.50, 600. The year 1856 was
marked by rapid strides in building opera
tons and a large growth in population.
In the early spring mill was
built with capacity of $50, 600 feet per
day by Reed Il Maxwell, and the largest
sawmill in the Northwest was completed by
a. A. Bigelow & Co., which will turn out
an average OF 500. 900 feet per day. The
new city hall is rapidly approaching COM
pletion. 1t is very ornamental structure
and presents very handsome appearance
1t will cost over $4,000. Washburn has
now population of 3, 600 people, In 1886,
there were ,, 800. New corners are arriv-
IL
The demand for dwellings is far ahead of
the supply. and in consequence, building
activity is noticeable on all sides. There
are six miles of sidewalks now laid and
others being built as fast as streets are
opened up.
LOCATION SITUATED
on the west side of Chequamegon bay.
Washbum is sheltered from the severe
storms that lash into fury the surface of
Lake Superior. 1t is so sheltered that it
has the finest harbor on the Great Lakes.
Its water front is twelve miles in length
and is of a uniform depth at the docks of
from twenty to twenty-five feet. The loca-
ton of the town is simply perfect Rising
from the shore it gradually ascends to
height of 200 feet three quarters of mile
back from the bay, thus insurng perfect
drainage. With its southeastern exposure
and surrounding hills covered with
forests of pine ntermingled with
oak and maple it is known as
the sanitarium of the Northwest. As To-
cation for business men and capitalists
Washburn offers wonderful advantages, for
it is forty miles nearer Buffalo by water
than Chicago, and eightytive miles nearer
than Duluth. Washburn offers without ex-
ception the best location for extensive -four
md D0f naol mill t.r-fi to
the grain fields of the Northwest; second,
in the reduction of expenses for handling
both grain and -four to nominal figure, and
third, i'll the low rate at which fuel can be
had here. AS point for milling, Wash
burn would have at least one hundred miles
of rail and eighty-tiye miles of lake trans
portation the advantage of any other COM
petltor. This means all advantage on
transportation alone of from Is to 20 cents
per barrel on flour.
en- to- MANUFACTURERs.
WaShhurn offers advantages 10 all manu-
facturers. 1t has tributary to it the finest
and most extensive body of pine lands in
the northeast. there being over 1000, 900, =
600 feet untouched, and in addition to its
present saw mills offers the best induce.
mentS for sash and door manufacturing,
planning mills, single mills. woodenware
factories, barrel factories, match factories,
paper mills and all kinds of machine shops
and factories necessary to keep in repair
and furnish supplies for these other indus
tries. There is in this vicinity sufficient hem
lock and oak to tan 8, 900, 600 of hides. and
Tawhides can be shipped from the west
to this point as cheaply as any other This
vicinity has inexhaustible deposits of clay
suitable for the manufacture of brick and
tile, and therefore can supply all its own
building material.
NUMBERING INTERESTS.
Six hundred thousand feet per day is the
present capacity of the three mills, divided as
follows: Rood & Maxwell, first mill, $50, 600
feet: A. A. Bigelow & Co., 300. 900 feet:
Rood & Maxwell second mill, $50. 900 feet.
Allowing twenty-sx days to the month
and six months for the manufacturing sea-
son we find a total of $4,000, 600 feet OF
lumber as the product of a single season.
This industry alone furnishes employment
TO not less than 1000 men both winter and
summer, and there is enough pine in the
township Of Washburn alone to furnish
100, 600, 600 feet for thirty years to come
There were banked during the winter 81.
900, 900 feet by the following firms: Viles
IL Riley, A. A. Bigelow 81 CO., Fisher 81
Wing, Lewis 81 Prentice and +. E. Scott
THE IRON INDUSTRY.
All the iron mines of the famous Gogebic
range are tributary to Washburn, and
particularly the ore from the west range.
where fifty working crews are already
developing mines. A large ore dock will
be completed this summer and others will
be constructed in the near future. Sites
for blast furnaces abound and every faciI-
Ity for obtainining fuel and Oil at the
cheapest rates are at hand. The west
range is only thirty miles distant, and is
being connected to Washburn by the
Chicago, st. Paul. Minneapolis & Omaha
railroad. The estimated cost of the rail-
road terminal facilities is the enormous
sum of $1,000, 000O. This is what the
Omaha road has done for Washburn. The
other roads are pushing on to-
wards this goal. The Northern
Pacific is only six miles distant,
The Wisconsin Central and the Lake Shore
have only thirteen miles to reach here. and
the Chicago. Burlington & Quincy and
the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific roads
are now seeking an outlet to Lake Superior.
BUSINESS FOR 1856.
One may judge of the large business done
by Washbum when over 80, 600 cars of mer-
chandise We're handled during 1886. almost
100 cars a day; the number of boats arriy-
ing and clearing during last season being
Al, and the number of men employed on
the docks, 200. The amount of freight
handled at the Washburn docks amounted
to the enormous sum of $50, 600 tons. The
assessed valuation for the town last year
was over three quarters of million dollars,
and this year, with all the coming improve
ments, it will be much larger.
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT.
For town as fully developed as Wash
burn, the price of real estate is not high.
The best business property is worth from